Draft regulator for locomotives



O. HUWYLER DRAFI' REGULATOR FOR LOCOMOTIVES Jly 7, 1936..

`Iuly 7, 1936. Q HUWYLER 2,047,071

DRAFT REGULATOR FOR LocoMoTIvEs Filed Jan. 1e, 1953 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented July 7, 1936 UNITED PATE yoies-i.c1-3

,Application January-.16, ,1933, serial No. 652,092 l InLSwtzerland October 29,1931

3 Glaims.

This finvention f,relates .to improvements in draft .regulator for locomotives for controlling the introduction `of steam .and `of .overgrate air for smoke-.consuming devices.. more particular- `5 ly `foruse on. locomotives. Theihitherto'known steam and overgrate air control gear "typessuch .as .are used ,more particularly on locomotives, and which are provided with an ,auxiliary blower valve and with a steam .control .valv.e, suffer from l0 the Adrawback that the auxiliaryblower workstoo .powerfully when the smoke-consumingdevi'ce is startedup, .with the result thatin the firstplace too large a volume of air "is supplied 'forthe'sup- .porting of ,combustionhand in the secondplace I5 the steampressure rises tooA far andtoo rapidly, `sothat the smoke-consuming devicehas tobe "rout off again. t t In order toV overcome this 4objection to the vknown types of contro'l gear for the described 5.20 purpose in accordance with the present inven- 'tion there are provided in Ithe auxiliary blower valvefor the feeding of 'the auiiliary-'b'lower both aA channel which permits of 4the passagefof a small quantity of steam, and which iis auto- .;25 m'atically opened by the closing ofthe hand- Vcontrolled main steam valve and closed by the opening 'of the main steam valve, andalsoa second Vchannel which permits of 'thepassage of a 'larger quantity of steam than vthe previouslyi' :30' mentioned channel, lbut which is 'independent of the'position of the 4main steam Ivalve 'andcontrolled solely by 'the vsteamcontrol valve.

This steam control valve 'is so y'linked up with "the nre-'door that, on the fopeningof "the fire ;-35 rdoorfit'is automatically brought into -fsuch la position that 'fit `opens up thefsteam passage-to the channel inthe auxiliary*blowervalvewhich permits fof `the passage -of- .onlyfasmall quantity y of steam, lwhile keeping closed'fthechannel-of :40 Ylarger,cross-section, this-latter channel vis-capable 4of being A.opened-onlyby 4actuationvof the .steam control valve rby hand.

The result achieved by the described arrangey vment isf rthat, Vwhen .tha .smoke-consuming -dea5 vice is started up,` 4the ,auxiliary blowen in the if smoke box isset toworkat .a ,fraction .of its capacity, which fraction however is sufficient 'to effect complete combustion of the smoke, while at 'the same `time' 'the possibility is provided of w50v feeding Vthe auxiliary blower ffor any desired @working strength for the purpose Aof vpowerfully andk rapidly forcing the -re-to obtain rap'i'd formation of steam.l At the'same time, account is taken fof the `recpu'irement that Afor-the `obtain- 5155 fingof. complete rcern-bust'ion of smoke, when lthe ,re door is vopened .for the purpose of stoking (the main Valve Vbeing of course closed), the auxiliary blowershould in any event be setto wolr.` This result is obtained, as already mentioned, Aloy arranging for `the'auxiliaryillolower to l 5 kbe'started up .with...a slight Quantity .o'f `steam'loy positively-acting ,means when the 'fire 'door is opened. On the other hand, in the arrangement according to the ,present inventionthe feeding ofthe auxiliary'blower with large quanflO tities of steam vis .not automatically governed, 'in contradistincti'onlto the known arrangements for the same purpose, but 4is hand-controlled, since an automatically acting'devicecannot'adequately well adapt `itself 'to Vthe frequent and f15 .v arying alterations in the `demandsimade on the re and inthe timerequiredfor driving the gasecus Vcontent out of the fuel, jor atleast not if vthe -deviceiis to Apossessf'the simplicity'necessary `to make it eligible for surface under actual ;20 Working conditions.

One form of construction-embodying the prin- 'ciple ofthe invention is illustrated, 'by way of example, in theV accompanying drawings, in

which: 25

Fig. lis yaffront elevation 'of the re door of a 'locomotive en'ginejtogether 'with -the steam and overgrate air 4control gear.

Fig. `2 shows in section Vfthe re fdoor and the 'overgrate air 'admission flap. 30

Fig. 3 iis va vertical `section of the steamfcontrol lvalve. y

Figs. 4 Aand 5 are sections `on the line A-B of Fig. 3, showing the shutting-off member in different operative positions. .35

re door frame I is .closed by there door 2 into *which-fthe L'overgr'ate air admission 'flap 3 is huilt. Iritothe combustion-chamber there is ar- 45 ranged to project'the steam jet nozzle 15 Awhich is connected to a steam pipe 4, and which 'is supplied. with `steam from `theV pipe line '20 lconnected to the boiler, through a further pipe 2`4 and the 'steam 'control valve. Th-steamcon- 50 trol "valve "6 is connected bymeans of ttwopipes T21 and '22" 'to the auxiliary blower valve 1 from which Ya `pipe 23' "leads rto 4the vauxiliary Lblowerfl) ther, Lirom ithe Vsteano `controlvalvefii la pipe '-21.55

leads to a steam cylinder 8 which actuates the overgrate air flap 3 in a manner to be described in due course. The steam control valve 6 has, as its controlling member proper (see Figs. 3 to 5), a slide valve 32 which is adapted to be rotated by means of a lever I6 shown in Fig. 1. If this lever I6 be in position I the slide Valve 32 assumes the position shown in Fig. '7 in which both the pipe 24 leading to the steam jet nozzle 5 and also the two pipes 2| and 22 leading to the auxiliary blower valve are closed oiT.

If the lever I 6 be then brought into position II, which can be eiTected either by hand or automatically, in a manner to be described later, in dependence on the opening of the iire door, the slide valve 32 assumes the position shown in Fig. 4 in which it uncovers both the channel 24 leading to the pipe 24 and to the steam jet nozzle 5 and also the pipe 2 I to the auxiliary blower valve 1, While .still retaining the pipe 22' closed orf. The pipe 2I' leads to a channel 2| in the auxiliary blower valve 1 (Fig. '1), which channel has a passage for the steam of small cross-sectional area controlled by an adjustable throttling screw 35. In

4the auxiliary blower valve there is further provided a hollow slide valve 36 with apertures 31,

which slide valve can be displaced by means of a piston 28 which is made to respond to the movement of the main steam valve 62 through the provision of the connecting pipe line 25 connecting the steam chest 64 with the auxiliary blower valve 1. As is well known in the art, the steam chest 64 is connected with the steam dome 65 of the'locomotive by means of the pipe 66 controlled by the steam valve 62 provided with the adjusting handle 63. When the valve 62'is closed by means of the handle 63, so that no Hsteam pressure is present under the piston 28 If the valve 62 be opened steam ilows from the steam chest through the pipe 25 under the piston 28, thus lifting the latter and pressing the hollow slide valve 36 upwards.

. blower valve is thus interrupted and the steam valve 32 assumes the position shown in Fig. 5

in which it opens the pipe 22 leading to the channel 22, 23 in the auxiliary blower valve, while at the same time the communication to the steam jet nozzle and to the channel ZI remains open.

l A considerable quantity of steam is thus allowed to pass through the channel 22, 23 to the auxiliary blower 60, and that irrespective of the position of the hollow slide valve 36, that is'to say of whether the valve 62 be open or closed, be-

cause with open valve 62 the steam which enters the channel 22, is allowed to iiow around thereduced shank portion of the slide ValV@ 35 The movement of the lever I6 from position II to position III and back from III to I is in any case eiected by hand. The shifting of the same from position I into position II is, however, also eiected in one particular case aiutomatically, 5 namely when the fire door is opened with the lever I6 in any position between I and II. In this case the lever I6 is taken on into position II by the action of opening the fire door, so that every time the fire door is opened the slide valve 10 32 assumes the position shown in Fig. 4, provided this slide valve has not been moved already by hand into a still further open position.

For the transmission of the movement of the fire door to the lever I6 the following arrange- 15 ment is adopted. On the fire door there is provided an engaging piece I3a which co-operates with eccentric or crank members I3 and I4 which in their turn are connected to a tension rod I5 adapted to actuate the lever I6. The opening of the fire door causes the engaging piece I3a to engage and turn the crank members I3 and I4, and the tension rod I5 is thus drawn towards the right, so that the lever I6 connected to this tension rod is moved from position I to position II. 25

There is connected to the steam control valve 6, by means of a pipe line 21, a steam cylinder 8 which actuates the overgrate air flap 3. At the upper end of this cylinder 8 a connection to the atmosphere is provided by means of the passage 38 and the pipe 38. When the lever I6 is moved from the position I into either of the positions II and III the cylinder 8 is also supplied with steam, with the result, that the piston 42 iitted in this cylinder is lifted, together with the piston rod I1, against the action of a spring 44. The end of the piston rod I1 engages a bell-crank lever I8 which is thereby rotated and actuates a lever I9 attached to the axle of the overgrate air nap 3, so that this latter is opened. when the 4 door is opened, the lever I9 moves out of engagement with the lever I8, thereby permitting the ao 3 to close upon opening oi' the door.

In order to adapt the extent of tbe opening of the overgrate air ilap to the workingr reduirements obtaining at any one time the piston rod I1 is adapted to be variable as to its length, the arrangement being such that one of a num.- ber of end pieces A, B. C of different length can be fitted on the end of this piston rod. The longer the end piece used the wider the overgrate air flap will be opened at a certain steam pressure. The shortest of the end pieces A, B, C with which smokeless combustion can still be obtained will always be selected for employment on the end of the piston rod I1. In this connection it should also be noted that the setting of the screw 35 (Fig. '1) in the auxiliary blower valve will also be governed by the principle of keeping the auxiliary blower action down to the minimum which still ensures smokeless combustion.

In the above description only the three positions I, II and III of the lever I6 and of the slide 65 valve 32 have been considered. It will however be clear that the lever I6 can have as many intermediate positions as desired. The three positions I, II and III merely represent the three most characteristic positions, in position I the apparatus being out of action, with the valve 62 closed down, at position II the apparatus being set to work with slight auxiliary blower action, y and at position III with powerful auxiliary blower 75 action. With open valve 62 the same applies to positions I and III as with closed valve 62, Whereas in position II the apparatus is turned on but without any auxiliary blower action.

What I claim is:

1. In draft regulators for locomotives and the like, a steam auxiliary blower, a main steam Valve, a steam control valve having steam outlet ports, an auxiliary blower valve having a channel adapted to be connected with one of said outlets for the passage of a small quantity of steam, a connection between said channel and the auxiliary blower, means controlled by the main valve for maintaining said channel in open condition when the main valve is in closed position and acting upon opening of the main valve to adjust said blower valve to close said channel, said blower valve having a second channel adapted to be connected with another outlet of the control valve for the passage of a larger quantity of steam to said connection independently of the main valve, said steam control valve including means for controlling the ow of steam to each of said channels.

2. In draft regulators as claimed in claim 1 characterized by the provision of a fire box and a re door therefor, and means connecting the re door with the steam control valve whereby upon opening the iire door, said steam control valve is automatically adjusted to permit the passage of steam to the rst mentioned channel while maintaining communication to the second mentioned channel closed, said steam control valve being manually operable to a second position to open communication for passage of steam to the second mentioned channel.

3. In draft regulators as claimed in claim 1,

characterized by the provision of a iire box and 

